


words

by convergent



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Letters, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-14 00:11:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12995565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/convergent/pseuds/convergent
Summary: will’s mom buys him a journal to write down his feelings when he doesn’t want to talk about them. mike finds this journal.





	words

When Will got sick of the constant worrying and questioning, Joyce noticed. A part of her felt the guilt of being so concerned, Will noticed this. So, when he came home from school and spotted a journal on his bed, he wasn’t too surprised. He did feel happier when he read the sticky note on top, from his mother, claiming that he should use this whenever he didn’t want to talk about his feelings with her or his brother. So, instead of coming home and drawing, he wrote. 

As music gently played in the background, he picked up his pen and started. At first he hesitated, not knowing what to write. He had thousands of emotions lately that he could write about. Yet, there was one in specific he absolutely could not talk about, so he wrote about Mike Wheeler. 

In moments he had spilled out words about his growing “romantic feelings” towards his greatest best friend. He wrote about Mike telling him that asking him to be his friend was the best choice he ever made. He wrote about the relief he felt in the back of his mind when he could still remember Mike while in the hospital. He wrote about the comfort of waking up to Mike by his side, staring at him with his worried brown eyes. He talked about what it felt like holding his hands. He talked about “the electricity” Dustin told him he’d feel. He felt it.

Will had always admired Mike and thought about how attractive his friend was, but pressed down the flutters he’d get when Mike touched him or looked at him with his adoring stare.

This continued every day after school.

Will had filled out half of the journal before he decided to start bringing it to school for his breaks in class. Writing was an actual relief, and he had thanked his mom more than once for the journal. He began bringing it everywhere. Just for when the feelings arose, he’d write it down and then try to cope with it all.

One day, he had been writing during class when his teacher assigned work. Without looking, he dropped the journal into his backpack. He started on the assignment, and as he finished, class was over and he approached Dustin and began laughing when Dustin told him about the kid having a sneezing fit in his first period that morning. School was finally over, and he glanced around him but for once, Mike had not been there. 

His mother had started making Jonathan pick him up from school because of the incident with the Mind Flayer a few months ago. Will still had nightmares, all the time, and he felt as if a piece of himself had been left in the Upside Down. Of course, he didn’t talk about that, and instead wrote it down.

He collapsed on his bed and went to pull out his journal to talk about the disappointment of not leaving school with Mike, and when his hand reached for the journal, it wasn’t there. Will’s heart dropped. 

 

Mike stared at his hands, holding Will’s journal. He’d watched as Will left it behind on the floor beside his backpack, and grabbed it after Will had already disappeared with Dustin. He frowned, running into the hallway to try and return it, but Will was already gone. Students crowded around him, too tall for Mike to spot the smaller boy, anyways. Mike shrugged to himself and slid the journal into his backpack, planning to return it to Will in class tomorrow.

When Mike got home, the more curious side of him sparked like a wildfire. Mike hesitantly grabbed the journal out of his backpack, holding it gently in his hands. Surely this was one of the notebooks that Will frequently used to doodle in class during useless lessons. So, without hesitance, he opened it to see what Will had been drawing.

Mike did not expect to see pages completely filled with Will’s small and slightly messy handwriting. It looked as though Will had rushed on each page to fill out the lines. As he skimmed through, he could tell that at least over half of the journal had been finished. When Mike spotted his name on the first page, he stopped for a moment. Should he continue? 

It was Will, he thought, they never hid anything from each other. Plus, Mike had already been worried about Will. So basically he began from the top. The first sentence was, “I think I'm in love with Mike Wheeler.”

Well, fuck. 

Mike stopped, his heart practically exploded. Of course Mike had considered what it would be like to be able to hold Will whenever he pleased. He’d imagined plenty of things with his best friend, but had convinced himself long ago that he would never be good enough for Will Byers. Will was practically an angel who’d been through unimaginable shit. 

So he kept reading.

When Mike reached the most recent entry that Will had written down in class, the sentence was stopped at “I wish I could tell..”

Minutes later, journal tucked into his backpack, he was on his way out the door and on his bike. Mike had never peddled so hard and fast in his life, besides the time the four had been running from the men at Hawkins Lab. When he reached the Byers’ his heart was pounding and the windburn stung on his face. He knocked quickly, his body shaking from the cold as he waited for someone to answer the door. Joyce did.

“Mike? Is everything alright?” She asked, concern washing over her tired features.

“Yes, very alright, I just need to return something to Will, can I?” 

“Of course, honey,” Joyce smiled, “Go ahead. He’s in his room. Probably napping.” 

When Mike opened Will’s door, he spotted the boy curled in a ball, no blankets, asleep. Mike frowned at the dried tears on his beautiful best friend’s face. Mike dropped his bag and slipped off his jacket, bending down by Will’s side. “Will,” he mumbled; his hands shook his friend’s side. 

“Mike?” Will said groggily, his voice rough from crying. “Why are you here?” 

Mike couldn’t help himself as he lunged at Will, wrapping his arms around his sitting posture. “Mike!” Will exclaimed in surprise.

“Will, Will I read your journal, I thought it was just doodles but when I read the first page I didn't stop,” Mike confessed, his eyes stinging from incoming tears.

“You…” Will was frozen.

“Yes! But Will,” Mike's fingers carded through Will’s soft hair, “I love you too.” 

Will just stared in shock. Mike watched him carefully, trying to figure out what Will could be thinking. 

 

Mike loved him. Will was frozen in shock. Will stared into his beautiful brown eyes and realized there was no teasing, it was just adoration. “Do you mean that?” 

“Will, I’ve loved you for such a long time.” 

Mike made the first move. He tucked some stray hairs behind Will’s ears, sending shivers throughout Will’s body. Mike glanced into Will’s eyes before gently leaning in and pressing his soft lips to Will’s. Will felt like the whole world wasn’t real for a moment, like he was in a dream and he’d wake up, like a nightmare. 

But when he kissed back, the way Mike gripped his face felt too real to be a dream. Will’s hand moved to curl around Mike’s sweater, kissing him slow and gently. Mike gently pulled away, Will silently mapping out the freckles on his face and the long eyelashes that were still closed. “Will,” Mike said breathlessly, “Can we lie down?” 

Will nodded. The feeling of Mike’s arms curling around him made him feel safer than he had in a long time.


End file.
